


can it return?

by lucyyy_writes



Category: The Rookie (TV 2018)
Genre: F/M, Worried Tim Bradford
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-28
Updated: 2020-04-28
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:28:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23897539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lucyyy_writes/pseuds/lucyyy_writes
Summary: there is a bit of violence but not too much :) this takes place after 2x18 so spoilers if you haven’t seen it.
Relationships: Tim Bradford/Lucy Chen
Comments: 11
Kudos: 46





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> WARNING: SPOILERS FOR 2X18!!   
> this is part one, let me know if you want more and what you’d like to see

Tim knew Lucy was strong enough to handle him moving away, but did he want to? He’d had a continuous headache for the past 3 days over deciding what to do. Or so he thought. Lucy or Rachel? The only question in his head right now. It wasn’t that easy. Lucy was still recovering from her trauma and he knew she needed him. But Rachel was the first person he’s loved since Isabel. Lucy helped him through that more than she knew. He just told himself he’d think about it. He had a week to decide. 

The week came swiftly upon him. He couldn’t make this decision by himself, so he called Angela. He knew what her answer would be, but he wanted to make sure she thought he was doing the right thing. ‘I agree with you Tim’ said Angela. He knew what he was doing. Finally, he thought. Rachel was leaving in 2 days, he had to let her know his decision before then. But first he had to talk to Lucy. 

The next days shift came quickly, and he needed to have the chance to talk to Chen. But immediately after roll call, they got a call from dispatch. There was multiple stabbings and shootings. Tim and Lucy raced to the scene to find the attackers still there. They both leapt out of the shop and Tim being Tim, took several steps forward. Chen heard every crunch and crack under his feet, every step louder than the next. She heard the leader telling Tim not to come any closer, but Lucy knew he wouldn’t take no for an answer. The next few moments seemed to slow down. Tim lunged for the man, and as Lucy looked up, she saw him coiling over and falling down. He looked at her and she knew he wanted her to chase them. She couldn’t leave Tim here by himself though. Could she? 

She made the decision to run after the attackers, but she lost sight of them. She called in to dispatch and they sent some more patrol cars looking for them. She got back to Tim as fast as she could. He’d tried to conserve the blood, but 3 stab wounds are hard to keep under control alone. She saw Tim pale and bloody and her head clouded. Luckily, Tim called in an ambulance while Chen was chasing the perps, but he’d lost a lot of blood. 

A few hours passed and shift was over. Chen had requested the rest of the shift off, and of course Grey allowed it. She woke to the sound of Bradford’s heart monitor increasing. She checked his vitals and they’d gone up a lot. For a man of his fitness, they should have been a lot lower. She called in a nurse and Tim was now awake. He tried to talk but his breath was short and his words came out in sections. Lucy told him to be quiet, let the doctors work. Finally his BP went down and the docs left them alone. Lucy told Tim to never scare her like that again, she didn’t realise how hard she was squeezing his hand. ‘Boot, calm down! I’m okay’ said Tim, with his normal sarcastic tone. Lucy relaxed, but obviously didn’t let go of Tim as he looked at her with his face completely serious and said ‘are you going to let go any time soon?’ Lucy just laughed and let go, but her face turned slightly red. She informed Tim that the doctors want to keep him overnight and possibly the next day to make sure everything is going alright. Obviously Chen was going to stay with him, she didn’t need to tell him that. ‘Have you been here all day’ asked Tim. ‘No, no’ replied Lucy.


	2. chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SPOILERS FOR 2X18   
> this is part 2

Little did Chen and Bradford know that when they woke up that morning, they were going to receive some of the worst news imaginable. 

tim’s pov:   
I woke up that morning and my head was banging. I looked round to see Lucy still asleep, but obviously my squeeze on her hand tightening woke her. She asked if I felt alright, come to think of it- my whole body hurt. More than the past day or so. I just nodded my head and said I had a bit of a headache. Nothing to worry about, I told her. I didn’t want to think the worst, but I had to get a doctor to check up- without alerting boot. I sent her to get some coffees and told the doc i’d had a headache for the past week or so, and now my upper body hurts. He wasn’t too concerned, but took me in for a scan anyway. When I got back, Lucy was obviously worried- I just told her I was having a final check over. The results from the scan were gonna be an hour or so. I stalled until then, asking Lucy how she was and what was happening at the station. Then the doctor came in. My heart rate must have risen quite fast and I suddenly became very aware of all of my surroundings. ‘Tim, I’m afraid we’ve found signs of a head injury from about a month ago. As this hasn’t been corrected, it’s lead to a cut off of blood to a certain area of the brain and so you will need surgery. You could be off the job for a minimum of 6 months. I’m sorry, but if we don’t do something soon, there will be much worse consequences.’ 

I truly thought my whole world had collapsed into my skull. Everything felt so heavy and my arms could barely lift to my face. But when I managed to get them up there, and bury my face in my hands, they came back wet. And salty. I looked across and saw Lucy watching me. Apparently it had only been 2 minutes and my whole face was covered in tears. I was so embarrassed, I turned away and when Lucy tried to talk to me I ignored her. I felt awful, but I’ve never showed emotion infront of her before, let alone cried. She still stayed with me though, I couldn’t bring myself to tell her to go away. 

Finally, after 2 hours of brutal silence, I turned around. She’d clearly been crying too, but I ignored that. I asked her if it was my fault. If I deserved it. It felt like I’d done something wrong and I was being punished. I stared up at the ceiling while Lucy reassured me it wasn’t my fault. I ‘couldn’t have done anything about it’ apparently. But why didn’t I get it checked out sooner? Now I’m risking my entire future, and Lucy’s. I was so angry at myself, and so angry for feeling sorry for myself. I realised then that I hadn’t thought about Rachel once. Not even asked for her. At least now I know my decision, I chuckled to myself. But just to make things harder, I have to break up with Rachel.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> part 3 of the tim/lucy series. let me know anything you want to see and kudos would be appreciated :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one is a bit shorter but i’m losing ideas so i really need some help thinking of some, if you’ve got any leave them in the comments please :)

back to normal pov: 

He knew he had to break up with Rachel, but how? She was leaving tomorrow. He phoned her and told her he needed to speak to her, obviously he couldn’t leave the hospital. Rachel came in and she immediately knew what was going to happen. She gave him one look and said ‘Tim, I know what’s going on. I know why you’re not coming with me and I really hope everything works out with you. You have to stay with Lucy and I’m happy for you, honestly. Trust me, things will go well’ She gave him a kiss on the cheek (it hurt a bit as she leaned on his stomach) and she turned around and walked out. A few moments later Lucy walked in and asked ‘Why did Rachel look so upset?’ Tim gave her that look of ‘Boot I’m your TO we don’t talk about feelings’ and she laughed to herself. At least normal Tim was back. But she said ‘Tim just tell me what’s going on, it’s not like I’ve never seen you cry’ with a smile and a roll of her eyes. Tim felt his chest flutter and he was proud of her. He’d taught her that. ‘We broke up boot, I’m staying right here’. He smiled for the first time in what felt like forever, and Lucy smiled back. 

The surgery was booked in for a weeks time. That’s when Tim realised. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t realised earlier. Lucy has almost finished her training. He had to be there with her some how. He couldn’t not see her graduate from her rookie stage. He had 4 weeks to get that surgery done and he had to be up and moving again. The doctors had informed him (and Lucy, as she spent every spare minute she had at the hospital with him) that there was the possibility he wasn’t going to be able to walk for a couple weeks after the surgery. Maybe even more. But once Tim Bradford put his mind to something, he didn’t give up. After all, he didn’t take that Sargent job for that reason.


	4. chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tim and lucy have some difficulties, will they work it out?   
> tim is getting scared for a major surgery, can lucy help him?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> part 4, let me know what you want to see and kudos and comments are appreciated :)

Lucy’s pov:   
He thinks I haven’t realised yet. My training ceremony is in 4 weeks and Tim’s surgery is in 1. I’m not getting my hopes up though, I mean, he wouldn’t miss it, would he? I have been spending every spare minute at the hospital with him, most of the time just sat in silence. But it’s comfortable. He’s been in there for a week now, and his surgery is 6 days away. I can tell he’s nervous, but he’s Tim Bradford he won’t tell anyone that. Angela and Jackson have been in a few times with coffee and donuts and John and Nyla have bought him some balloons (despite him saying he’s going to pop them every day, I think he likes them really). But in the long run, I just want to be there for him, whenever he needs me. 

back to normal pov:   
Tim told Lucy she needs to be sleeping at home at least 5 times a week. After everything she’s done for him, he’s not going to be the one that makes her late for shift, or even worse. 3 days until the surgery and Lucy has insisted she’s staying with him. Grey has given her a week off work to be with Tim, and obviously he won’t deny the company. As the days count down, Tim gets more and more on edge. Lucy tried her hardest to comfort him, but in the end she looked him dead in the eye and said ‘Tim Bradford, get a grip’. Normally Lucy wouldn’t be that harsh to anyone. But she and Angela knew him more than anyone. 

tim’s pov:   
I wasn’t expecting that from Lucy. She’s been so understanding through the whole thing and I just end up lying awake at night thinking about how I don’t deserve a rookie like her. She’s not just a rookie to me anymore, she’s a friend. More than a friend. I decided to get some sleep before the surgery, it was scheduled for 2pm tomorrow. I woke to Lucy, Jackson, Angela and Grey all sat in my room. It was 7am and I’d managed to snatch a 6 hour night. I couldn’t help but smile when I saw them. Obviously I had to let them know it wouldn’t happen very often. I have to say I was happy when they left for shift. Of course Lucy stayed, she was on first name terms with most of the hospital staff at this point.   
The hours got shorter and shorter, there was 2 hours until my surgery. Lucy clearly noticed me getting jumpy because she grabbed my hand and asked ‘you okay Tim?’ I wanted to tell her I was fine, but the words wouldn’t come out. I pulled away from her and turned over on my other side. I was glad I was no longer connected to the heart rate machine, because it would have caused unnecessary attention. I tried to focus on my breathing and my surroundings, but obviously being in the hospital didn’t help. I was annoyed at myself for not talking to Lucy, and I was embarrassed. It seemed as though all I’ve done this week is have feelings. In front of people. 

lucy’s pov:   
I felt bad for Tim. I know how it feels. He got my through the Caleb thing, he found me. I’m going to get him through this. I’m going to find him again. Being a badass cop isn’t what makes Tim himself, but I’m not going to tell him that yet. Instead I stand up and go to the other side of him, he’s stubborn, but he won’t turn away again. Secretly he wants to talk to me. I could tell, as I was sat behind him, his breaths were short and he was shaking. I knew he’d be even more embarrassed if I did something, so I just left him to calm himself down.


	5. chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> let me know if you want more :)

normal pov:   
As Lucy sat in front of Tim, his thoughts were whizzing around his brain. He wanted to talk to her so badly, but he didn’t know how. He didn’t think he’d ever be able to open up to anyone after what Isabel did to him, but after Lucy recorded the Sergeant books for him, something clicked. He was glad she was his boot, he was happy she could see right through him and most of all he was happy he found her. She could see right through him. Now it was easy, he could put up an act and she’d look through it like glass. He turned on to his back and stared up at the ceiling. ‘Hey, Boot? Can I talk to you?’ Lucy was glad he’d finally realised what was good for him. ‘Of course’. They talked for the final hour, about how Tim was scared, and how he didn’t want to miss her ceremony. How he was never going to give her a break, no matter how well she did- because she can be better than him. They cried together, laughed together, and Lucy was proud of Tim. After what seemed like the longest hour of their lives, Tim was taken into surgery. 

As Tim was going to be in surgery for at least an hour, and Grace had promised to phone her when he was out, Lucy decided to go by the station. She stayed and caught up for a bit and as soon as she got the text from Grace that he was nearly done, she was in her car faster than ever. She got there just as he was being brought out of the surgery room, she scooted past the nurses and went and sat in his room, like she’d been there the whole time. The anaesthetic hadn’t worn off by the time he got back to the room, so Lucy sat there until he came to. 

tim’s pov:   
I woke up back in my hospital room. My eyes were blurry but I looked over and saw Lucy sat in the chair, she looked up and me and I whispered ‘Hey’. I was still drowsy and I tried to sit up. I couldn’t. I couldn’t move. Lucy told me it was all part of the surgery, it would loosen up in a couple of days. It had to. She didn’t know yet, but my intentions were to walk into that ceremony like nothing had happened. I needed Lucy to go back to work, I had to start walking by myself. No one can know yet. The couple days passed and I could finally sit up. Lucy was back at work so I was alone to practice, finally. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy. On the plus side, I was allowed out of hospital in 2 days, I can practice at home without anyone seeing me! There is one thing I want to do and once I start on something I’m not giving up.


End file.
